You can’t drive Cyberpunk 2077’s flying cars

We’ve got some bad news for you. Those flying cars in the Cyberpunk 2077 E3 trailer? Yeah, the ones that looked really cool? Sadly, you can’t control them. Although the vehicles will play a part in the game, when you’re behind the wheel, it’ll be a strictly rubber-on-tarmac affair.

At the end of the trailer, which you can check out towards the bottom of this article, flying cars pop up a few times. There’s one that swoops across a shot of the city, as taxis and vans drive around the road below. There’s another that a woman, who I’d put money on being a key player in one of the game’s megacorporations, steps out of. And a couple more show up courtesy of the Trauma Team, Cyberpunk’s paramedic/SWAT team crossover.

You see far more ‘traditional’ cars in the trailer. Most notable among them is V’s, which shows up right at the end of the trailer. There are plenty of shots of open sky in the trailer, but none of them seem to show that much in the way of flying cars, suggesting they’re limited to being the playthings of Night City’s elite.

In an interview with Metro, Cyberpunk 2077 level designer Max Pears said that “you won’t be able to control flying cars, but they will be used for missions for crucial things.” I’m just speculation here, but I imagine you’ll be riding shotgun in those missions, defending an NPC who’s actually controlling the car.

It’s slightly disappointing news, especially given that developers CD Projekt Red have played up the game’s verticality, but I can’t say I’m too surprised. I don’t feel like Night City is intended as a sandbox you can play around in in the same way as a Just Cause or Grand Theft Auto title.